bancroft



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EDWARD o. R NcRoF'T, HENRY M. BANCROFT, AND EDWARD H. BANGROFT, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 82,071, dated September 15, 1868.

IMPROVED ENAMEL FOR WINDOW-SHADES.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that we, EDWARD O. BANCROFT, HENRY M. Bancnorr, and EDWARD H. BANCROFT, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Window- Shadcs; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same.

Cloth window-shades, as manufactured at the present time, are painted and decorated in water-colors, for cheap'ness and convenience of manufacture; but these shades are easily stained or soiled by getting wet accidentally, and when they become fly-specked, or rusty by use, cannot be washed without ruining the curtain.

The object of this invention is to protect the curtain by means of an elastic enamel, which shall fortify the decorations against water, or soap and water, and also give the tinting or decorations a much richer tone, as hereinafter more fully explained.

The compound we employ consists of eight parts copal varnish, two parts boiled linseed-oil, and one part benzine, compounded and manufactured by heating the oil to 160 Fahrenheit, after which we add slowly the copal varnish, and then the benzine, shaking the compound until well mixed, when an article is produced which is transparent, elastic, bright, and glossy, giving a smooth surface, impervious to water, and when dried hard will not crack on a flexible surface, and is not affected by heat or cold. In case the copal varnish used should be gummy and disinclined to dry, we add a small quantity of japan, not, however, sufiicient to make it crack or impart brittleness.

If the fabric, in the decorative process, has not been well filled with sizing, and the colors or tints Well set, we treat the d-ecorated side to a coat of sizing from Irish moss, and when dry, to a coat of white-glue sizing, the sizing to be applied just before it becomes cold, and of such consistency as to have a body; and when dry, we give it a coat of the compound on both sides, and then, when dry, the decorated side a second coat, and afterwards thoroughly dry.

If the fabric, in the manufacture, has been sized so as to fill the interstices of the cloth, and the colors set so as to need no further protection for applying the compound, the compound is applied at once, as above stated.

If greater transparency is desired'in unsized shades, and there is but little color in the fabric, excepting the decoration, we first treat it to a coat of linseed-oil, and then apply the compound.

The effect in either case is to bring out and enliven the colors in a marked degree, whether ground-work or decoration, and giving to each a permanency and brilliancy not attained heretofore, and allows the curtains to be washed at any time, and all rust, dinginess, and fly-specks to be removed, and the tints and decorations are retained bright and fresh for a long time.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The employment of the within compound in the manufacture of cloth window-shades, for the purpose described, substantially as set forth The above specification of our invention signed by us, this 24th day of February, 1868.

- EDWARD C. BANCROFT, HENRY M. BANCROFT, Witsesses: EDWD BANCROFT.

BEVERLY CHASE, F. A. MORLEY. 

